Fox
channel
Act of War: Direct Action; Oxford English Dictionary 3.1; Registry Repair Wizard 2005
Games based directly on books are a rarity in the game industry, but this one
shouldn't be much of a surprise: A lot of things blow up in the novel of the same name, by best-selling military thriller
author Dale Brown. The book imagines a scenario in which oil companies support terrorism to keep oil prices climbing around
the world; the game is being released at the same time as the book, another rarity in the industry.
The game kicks off with a series of terrorist attacks on targets in the District, San Francisco, London and elsewhere. These go beyond ordinary suicide bombings to encompass the use of tanks and antiaircraft missiles,
all unloaded by the ton off ships in our largely undefended ports. You play an army major in charge of Task Force Talon, an
elite group of soldiers and technicians trained in the same hit-and-run tactics as the terrorists; the fight plays out in
real-time battles, with steps in between to build most of the units you'll need (in some cases, special hardware, such as
carrier-based fighter jets, are provided for you).
Media Backtalk
Howard Kurtz
Consumers
used to get their news from newspapers, magazines and evening broadcasts from the three television networks. Now, with the
Internet, cable TV and 24-hour news networks, the news cycle is faster and more constant, with every minute carrying a new
deadline. But clearly more news and more news outlets are not necessarily better. And just because the media have the ability
to cover a story doesn't always mean they should -- or that they'll do it well.
Howard Kurtz has been The Washington
Post's media reporter since 1990. He is also the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and the author of "Media Circus," "Hot Air,"
"Spin Cycle" and "The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation." Kurtz talks about the
press and the stories of the day in "Media Backtalk."
WB CHANNEL 69
Mars Buys Into Water-Purifying Technology
Consumers
used to get their news from newspapers, magazines and evening broadcasts from the three television networks. Now, with the
Internet, cable TV and 24-hour news networks, the news cycle is faster and more constant, with every minute carrying a new
deadline. But clearly more news and more news outlets are not necessarily better. And just because the media have the ability
to cover a story doesn't always mean they should -- or that they'll do it well.
Howard
Kurtz
has been The Washington Post's media reporter since 1990. He is also the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and the author of
"Media Circus," "Hot Air," "Spin Cycle" and "The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation."
Kurtz talks about the press and the stories of the day in "Media Backtalk."
